Free story valuation

Do you have a story that you would like to sell to the national press? Talk to the Press provide a free story valuation service.

One of the first questions people ask when they get in touch is, ‘how much is my story worth?’

Although it’s not possible to say exactly how much it’s worth until we’ve officially pitched it to a paper or magazine – we can give you a story valuation estimate over the phone.

In order for us to give you an accurate offer we need to know as much information as possible regarding the story.

Understandably, some people can be reluctant to tell us anything over the phone – especially if their story concerns a celeb or they believe it is front page news. Unfortunately, without the basic information of the story we cannot value it (please be wary of any journalist who tells you they can).

We understand people can be wary of the press and fear they’ll run off and print the story without paying them – but we are a reputable agency and bound by both copyright laws and IPSO Independent Press Standard Organisation. Our job is to represent and protect you, so we would never print anything without your permission. Talk to the Press deal with the newspapers / magazines on your behalf.

But no editor is going to buy a story without knowing the basic information first and seeing evidence of its veracity. We receive hundreds of stories a day and need to know that the story will stand up and is from a credible source, before commissioning it.

If you want to get a quick valuation for your story then you’ll need to be co-operative and give us as much info as possible. Then we can tell you a rough figure of what we think it’ll be worth – the fee will depend on what publication it goes to and how ‘big’ it goes in the nationals.

Obviously, a front page story will be worth considerably more than a straightforward news story. Generally, there are set fees for a story which go in as one page and a story which goes in as a spread – unless the story is really strong – in which case it may be worth considerably more.

If you are a whistle blower or selling a front page story – we will always, as a matter of course, send you a confidentiality agreement to put your mind at ease before you hand over info on the story.

With more general real life stories we’ll email you an electronic contract to sign and send back to us before we start working on your story.

This is standard practice with any story we’re working on so please don’t be alarmed by the word ‘contract’ – it’s just to ensure you are speaking exclusively to us and are not working with any other journos, agencies or publications. It prevents us from wasting time on stories that have been touted elsewhere.

It also guarantees that you’ll get paid for your story once it runs.

We’ll ask you to send over any relevant evidence, pics etc to support your story. Once we’ve seen all the evidence and had a brief chat with you to get the bare bones of the story, we’ll start pitching it out to our contacts on the papers and magazines.

Our direct contacts on the papers and magazines are at an editorial level – so we can quickly secure the best fees for you as they have the power to make decisions quickly.

Please remember to keep your story exclusive. Only send it to one agency (hopefully you’ll choose Talk to the Press. Many people make the mistake of sending their story to multiple sources in the belief that they will attain a higher fee. Unfortunately the industry works in the opposite direction and you will end up devaluing your story.

Publications pay top fees for exclusivity. They will only deal with one agency and will be nervous about bidding on stories that have been sent in from multiple suppliers. Sometimes a newspaper will print a ‘spoiler’ if they don’t manage to secure the story (i.e they could buy your story cut-price from a different agency if they don’t win the rights to it).

We are here to ensure that everything runs smoothly for you, and you achieve the maximum fee, so contact us using the story valuation form on the right hand side and we’ll get straight back to you with a fee estimate.